Core barrel



J. A. ZUBLIN ET AL CORE BARREL A March s, 1932.-

2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Dec. 27, 1950 March 8, 1932. J. A. zuBLlN'ET AL 1,848,453

CORE BARREL Filed'neo. 27, 195o 2 Sheets-sheet 2 Vid Trae/wax' Patented Mar.. 8, 4193.2

UNITED STATES PATENT carica JOHN A. ZUBLIN AND MAEDON H. ROACH, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIAiSAID ROACH ASSIGNOR TO SAID ZUBLIN CORE BARREL Application filed December 27, 1930. Serial No. 505,106.

Our invention relates to a core barrel having a novel gripping means which is adapted to grip a core and detach it in order that it may be raised to the surface of the ground.

Our invention in its broad concept is a core barrel having a gripping means which provides a jaw movable toward the axis of the core and penetrating the core a distance depending on the hardness of the core in order to grip it,

Our invention provides additional elements and means which may be added yto the structure included in the broad, idea of our invention and which, when added, constitute a patentable combination; and in the preferred form of our invention a number of additions are made in order to'better fit the invention for general use. Although these additional means or elements constitute a part,

of the invention in its entirety and in our opinion are valuable attributes to the fundamental idea, we do not wish the invention to be construed as limited to each and every element or means shown and described herein. We will now point out the different additions which may or may not, as desired, be used in connection with the broad invention.

In the preferred form of our invention the gripping means is adapted to engage the core in such a manner that the core is readily broken from the bottom of the well. The breaking action is effected by the gripping means applying a lateral or transverse force to the core. Since a hard core is not easily broken, in one form of our invention the core is engaged at different levels on opposite sides and forces are applied thereto in opposite directions. This action tends to tilt the core and results in its severance. This action may be provided for, as will be more fully explained in the following description, by having a stationary jaw, and a movable jaw which engages the core and forces it against the stationary jaw, or by having two movable jaws. When two movable jaws are used, we prefer to include them on a single tiltable member which when tilted brings the jaws into engagement with the core and performs the functions set forth above.l

One of the valuable features of the invention is the manner in which it severs the core from the bottom of the well, as already stated. Another valuable feature of the invention is that the core-gripping member is so supported that it is capable of swinging into the opening through which the core enters theY core barrel. lVhen the core is of a soft formation, the gripping means will swing into the position just mentioned and will close oil' this opening, thus preventing the core from breaking'up and dropping through the corereceiving opening.

Another important feature of the invention is the provision of means positioned within 4the upper endof the core-receiving barrel and adapted to impart a resilient downward pressure upon the core. This pressure is resisted solely by the core-gripping means after vthe core has been broken free and thus prevents the core from upward movement or rotation relative thereto.

In the accompanying drawings we have shown not only the preferred form of our invention, but various modifications in order that the broad idea of the invention may be fully understood.

Referring to the drawings:

Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive illustrate one of the preferred forms of our invention in which the core-gripping means is loosely mounted in the core barrel and is capable of rotation or remaining non-rotatable. Of these views, Fig. l is a sectional view of a complete core barrel with which any of the above mentioned core-forming heads may be used.

This view illustrates a novel means for preventing rotation of the core relative to the core catcher or the core barrel after the core has been broken free.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the lower part of the core barrel showing the position of the core-gripping member during the forming of the core.

Fig. 3 is a similar view, but shows the core- 'gripping member in a gripping position in which the core is securely gripped Iand is broken from the formation.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken as indicated by the line 4.-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but shows I' rel. Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7 7 of Fig. 6.

Fig..8 shows still another form of our invention. This form includes a movable jaw which is adapted to engage the core and force it into gripping engagement with a stationary jaw.

Fig. 9 shows still another forminl which our invention may be embodied.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, the numeral 11 represents thebody of a core barrel which is threaded at its lower end and which has a core-cutting element 12 secured thereto. The core-cutting element 12,. is provided with cutting teeth 14 which are adapted to cut away the material in order to form a well 15, and also to form a core 16. The cutting teeth 14 surround a core-receiving opening 19 through which the core 16 upwardly extends into a core-receiving barrel 20 supported within the body 11, according to regular practice, or in any operable manner.

Below the core-receiving barrel 2O and within the body part 21 of the core-cutting element 12 is a chamber 22 which is tapered,

as shown, so that it is of smaller cross-sectional area at its lower end. Placed on one side of the chamber 22 is a shoulder 23. L0-

' cated within the chamber is a core-gripping means 25 which has the characteristics of our invention. This core-gripping member 25 is in the form of a ring and, as shown, is adapted to. surround the core 16. The inner surface of the ring is provided with conical faces 26 in order to provide teeth 27 which constitute the jaws of the core-gripping means. The core-gripping means 25 is capable of moving from the position shown in Fig. 2 into a position as shown in Fig. 3 or into Va position as shown in Fig. 4.

During the forming of the core, the core barrel is rotated and the various teeth and blades dig away the bottom of the well and leave the core 16 projecting upward. As this cutting action progresses, the core becomes longer and projectsupward into the core-receiving barrel 20. During this action the core gripping member 25 is held in a non-gripping position, as shown in Fig. 2,

- by reason of the friction of the core 16 against this membr. ..-4When the core-forming operation is stopped, the friction on the core-gripping member 25 is removed or at least 16S- sened so that the member is acted upon by avity and caused to tilt. The tilting action occurs due to the fact that only one part of the ring is supported by the shoulder 23,

the other part being free to drop by the' action of gravity. |The ring member or coregripping member 25 assumes a position in which the teeth 27 contact the opposite sides of the core member.

The next operation is to cause the coregripping member to securely grip the core 16 and to sever it from the bottom of the well. This is accomplished by raising the core barrel. Since the core-gripping member 25 is already moved into such position that the teeth 27 contact the core, this upward movement of the core barrel relative to the core produces additional friction on the core-gripping means 25 and tends to tilt it to a greater extent, thus driving the teeth 27 i gripping member 25 has moved into this po'- 4 sition, the teeth 27, or rather the portions of the teeth 27 which engage the core, constitute movable jaws. One movable jaw engages the core at one elevation, and the other movable jaw engages the core at a different elevation. For this reason the forces indicated by the arrows '30 and 31 are not only in opposing directions but are horizontally offset from each other, and they tend to tilt or bend the core in a clockwise direction when viewing Fig. 3. This action `causes the core to break and therefore detaches the core from the formation or bottom of the well. It is usually found that the core tends to break in two places. It tends to break on a line between the two jaws, as indicated by the line 33, and to break at a point within the corereceiving 'opening 19, as indicated by the line 34.

As shown in Fig. 1, the core-receiving barrel 20 is provided with a novel pressure member 35 comprising a toothed pressure foot 36 from which a tubular shaft 37 extends upwardly through yan accommodating opening 38 in a cap 40 threadedly engaging and closing the upper end of the core-receiving barrel 20. A compression spring 41 is provided between the pressure foot 36 and the cap 40, pressing the foot downwardly within the barrel 20. An enlarged head 42 is provided on the upper end of the shaft 3Q' andi `is .adapted to contact the upper surface of the cap 40 to limit the downward movement of vthe pressure foot 36.

When they core 20 is broken free from the bottom of the well, as previously described, it will be seen that the resilient force of the spring 41 will be exerted upon the coregripping means through the core 20, thus tending to! force the core downwardly relative to the core barrel and the core-gripping means and tending to cause the core-gripping member to bite deeper into the core 20. The core 20, being held firmly between the pressure foot 36 and the core-gripping member, is prevented from rotation relative to the core barrel during the removalthereof from the well.

In Fig. 5 we show the manner in which a core is gripped when it is formed of a soft material. Due to the softness of the material the core-gripping member 25 may penetrate to a' greater extent, and should the core tend to crumble, the ring will swing into the position shown in Fig. 5,-01 into a more extreme tilted position, thus closing or clogging the core-receiving opening 19 and preventing the core from crumbling and sifting through vthe core-receiving opening.

As previously mentioned, Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate a form of our invention in, which the core-gripping member is caused to rotate with the barrel. To accomplish this we provide a recess in the body portion 21 of the cutter element 12 and provide the coregripping member 25 with an ear 51 which may extend into the recess 50. This ear is provided with a horizontally elongated slot 52' through which a pivot pin 53 is extended. The action ofjchis form of our invention is substantially equivalent to that of the form shown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, the only difference being that the core-gripping member 25 is restrained from remaining stationary and must rotate with the core barrel.

In Fig. 8 we illustrate a form of our invention which utilizes a jaw member 60, which rests in the chamber 22 on one side of the core 16, and is connected by arms 61 to a pivot 62 on the opposite side of the core. When the core is being formed, the jaw is in dotted line position 63, and when the core is being gripped and severed it occupies the full line position. When the core is in full line position itexerts a force, as indicated by the arrow 64, which presses the core 16 to thev left in Fig. 8 into engagement with a stationary jaw 66 which exerts a reactionary force in the direction of the arrow 67. The jaw, arms, and pivot, 60, 61, and 62 respectively, which constitute the core-gripping means of this form of our invention, have the characteristics of gripping the core in order to sever it and of moving into a position to clog the core-receiving opening 19 should the core be formed of a soft material.

In the form of our invention shown in Fig. 9 we utilize a core-gripping member of the type shown in Fig. 8. ThisVcore-gripping member, however, is pivoted on the pivot 62,

62 is formed so as toprovide teeth and toconstitute a jaw 68. The jaw G8 is therefore a stationary jaw and it is directly opposite from the movable jaw 60. Dotted lines 69 of this view illustrate the core-gripping member in non-gripping position. The full line represents it in gripping position. The jaw when in gripping position exerts a force, indicated by the arrow 70, which forces the core against the stationary jaw 68 which exerts a reactionary force 71. These two forces 70 and 71 are therefore diametrically opposed to each other and are at different elevations and cooperate to swing or tilt the core 16 in an anti-clockwise direction. This results in a blreakage of the core from the bottom of the we As previously pointed out, the forms of our invention shown in Figs. 1 to 5 and in Figs. 6 and 7 are the preferred forms of our invention. The forms of the invention shown in Figs. 8 and 9 are shown and described herein merely to illustrate various embodiments of the invention and to illustrate that the invention is not limited to certain structural embodiments. The forms shown in Figs. 8 and 9 in our opinion are not as satisfactory as the two forms shown in Figs. 1 to 7, but might satisfactorily operate in certain formations. We believe, at the time of preparing this application, that the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive is the most satisfactory for general use and will operati in a hard or soft formation without losing the core. Experience may teach us that certain modifications must be made, and for this reason we do not want to be limited to the structural details illustrated herein.

It is quite essential to have a core-catching means which will operate on hard strata as well as soft strata for the reason that during the drilling of a well hard and soft strata are intermingled and it is usually not known what strata will be next penetrated. If the core barrel were provided with a core catcher or core-gripping means which functioned only in a hard strata and a soft strata were penetrated, the core-gripping means would lose the core of the soft strata and thus make the record of the well imperfect. On the other hand, if the core-gripping means were operable only on a soft strata and a hard strata were penetrated, then the core of the hard strata would be lost and again the record of the well would be imperfect. Vith the core-gripping means of our invention the core will always be gripped regardless of whether or not it is a hard or soft strata, and due to the twisting or tilting action applied to the core it will be readily severed from the bottom of the well in order that it may be raised to the surface of the ground.

The two important features of this part of our invention therefore are first, that the core-gripping means will grip either a hard or a soft core, and second, the core-gripping means will grip the core in such a manner that it will be readily severed or broken from the bottom of the Well.` v

IVe claim as our invention:

1. In a core barrel the combination of: cutter means for cutting a core; receiving means, including a core-receiving opening,

lfor receiving said core; a ring in said ycore barrel above said core-receiving opening havlng internal jaws and being adapted to surround said core; means for so supporting 'said ring that same is swingable in a manner that said ring tends to tilt said core in order to break said core; -and means operable to eXert a positive force on said core to maintain said ring in said tilted position after said core is broken.

2. In a core barrel the combination of: cutter 'means for cutting a core; receiving means, including a core-receiving opening,

for receiving said core; a ring in said core barrel above said core-receiving opening hav-V ing internal jaws and being adapted to surround said core; means for so supporting said ring that same is swingable in a manner that said ring tends to tilt said core inorder to break said core; and means vengaging said core and operable to exert a positive force on said core to maintain said core-gripping means in tilted position after said core is broken. a v

3. In -a core barrel the combination of: cutter means for cutting a core; receiving means, including a core-receiving opening, for receiving said core; a ring in said core barrel above said core-receiving opening having internal jaws and being adapted to surround said core; means for so supporting said ring that same is swingable in a manner that said ring tends to tilt said core in order to break said core; and means positioned within said barrel in engagement with said core and operable to exert apositive downward `force on said core to maintain said core-gripping means in' a tilted, gripping position after said core is broken.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands at Los Angeles, California, this 20th day of December, 1930.

JOHN A: ZUBLIN.

MAHLON H. ROACI-I. 

